Super Bowl is set...

...and for the third year in a row, Mike will avoid watching the game.  Thanks a lot, Seattle!  >:(

Super Bowl 49 is set: Seattle-New England

Tim will receive a batsu game regardless of who wins.  The only question is will he be doing this solo or as part of the first ever team batsu?

If Seattle wins, it's a team batsu, as everyone picked New England either originally (Mike) or in their adjustments (everyone).

If New England wins, it's an individual batsu as Tim originally picked the Seachickens to win it all.

We shall see in two weeks time.

P.S. Would it kill the NFL to have a non-NFC West team in the Big Game for once (with the obvious exception of the Blue and Gold who, for the millionth time, I think do wind up staying in St. Louis)?!  Signed, Mike

Final 2014-15 Bowl Season Results

So, how did the guys do with their bowl picks? Let's take a look:

Bowl Game	Mike's Picks	Tim's Picks	Ryland's Picks	Actual Winner
New Orleans	Louisiana-Lafayette	Nevada	no pick	Louisiana-Lafayette
New Mexico	UTEP	Utah State	no pick	Utah State
Las Vegas	Utah	Colorado State	no pick	Utah
Idaho Potato	Western Michigan	Western Michigan	no pick	Air Force
Camellia	South Alabama	Bowling Green	no pick	Bowling Green
Miami Beach	BYU	BYU	no pick	Memphis
Boca Raton	Marshall	Marshall	Marshall	Marshall
Poinsettia	Navy	San Diego State	Navy	Navy
Popeyes Bahamas	Western Kentucky	Central Michigan	Western Kentucky	Western Kentucky
Hawaii	Fresno State	Rice	Fresno State	Rice
Heart of Dallas	Illinois	Louisiana Tech	Louisiana Tech	Louisiana Tech
Quick Lane	Rutgers	Rutgers	North Carolina	Rutgers
St. Petersburg	North Carolina State	Central Florida	North Carolina State	North Carolina State
Military	Cincinnati	Cincinnati	Virginia Tech	Virginia Tech
Sun	Duke	Arizona State	Arizona State	Arizona State
Independence	South Carolina	South Carolina	Miami	South Carolina
Pinstripe	Boston College	Boston College	Boston College	Penn State
Holiday	USC	USC	USC	USC
Liberty	Texas A&M	West Virginia	Texas A&M	Texas A&M
Russell Athletic	Clemson	Clemson	Oklahoma	Clemson
Advocare V100 Texas	Arkansas	Arkansas	Texas	Arkansas
Music City	Notre Dame	LSU	LSU	Notre Dame
Belk	Georgia	Georgia	Louisville	Georgia
Foster Farms	Stanford	Stanford	Stanford	Stanford
Outback	Auburn	Wisconsin	Auburn	Wisconsin
Citrus	Missouri	Minnesota	Minnesota	Missouri
Armed Forces	Pittsburgh	Houston	Pittsburgh	Houston
TaxSlayer	Tennessee	Iowa	Iowa	Tennessee
Alamo	UCLA	UCLA	Kansas State	UCLA
Cactus	Washington	Washington	Oklahoma State	Oklahoma State
Birmingham	Florida	Florida	Florida	Florida
GoDaddy	Toledo	Toledo	Toledo	Toledo
Big Bowls
Chick-fil-A Peach	Ole Miss	TCU	TCU	TCU
Fiesta	Arizona	Arizona	Arizona	Boise State
Orange	Mississippi State	Mississippi State	Mississippi State	Georgia Tech
Cotton	Baylor	Baylor	Baylor	Michigan State
Rose Bowl*	Florida State	Oregon	Oregon	Oregon
Sugar*	Alabama	Ohio State	Alabama	Ohio State
College Football Championship	Florida State Ohio State	Oregon	Oregon	Ohio State

Final results:
Mike: 21/39 (1/7) - 53.8% correct
Tim: 21/39 (3/7) - 53.8% correct
Ryland: 15/33 (2/7) - 45.5% correct

Batsu game goes to...

Well, first off, Ryland turned in his picks a little late and missed out on the first six bowl games,  so we've expunged those six from his bowl totals.

Also, Ryland was not present during the recording session when Mike and Tim made their picks.

Lastly, even though he wound up tied with Tim for first and managed to pick the correct Championship winner, we need to consider that Mike got every other big bowl game wrong, and would naturally have gotten the Championship game wrong if the system allowed picks before the Championship teams were selected.

We will discuss who gets the batsu game before our next recording session.

Episode 130 - Ray's Report

Ray gives us a brief MLB offseason report as well as a report on the NHL season.

Meanwhile, Tim's on Four Words.



Click here to download.

Episode 129 - Tim's Bears Rant

Regular listeners to the podcast know that Tim is a Chicago Bears fan.  Well, Tim had a few thoughts on the Bears' 2014 performance.

Fair use: In the same vein as Mike's wondering WTF is wrong with his team, we felt it appropriate to start this rant the same way: with Bobby Knight's infamous rant.



Click here to download.

Episode 128 - Bandwagon Discussion

Thou shalt not call us "bandwagon" fans.

The moderator of a Facebook-based Rams fan page committed the cardinal sin of calling Mike, a lifelong Rams fan, "bandwagon."

The context: said moderator was looking for positive things to say about the Blue and Gold less than 24 hours after the team in question (a) was officially eliminated from playoff contention, and (b) guaranteed a non-winning record for the 11th straight season.  Mike (who is neither "bandwagon" or a complete dummy) took exception, and that's when things got more interesting than they should - and the "bandwagon" insult came flying.

So, the guys decided to discuss what makes someone a "bandwagon" fan.  Good discussion, and Wheaton's Law was invoked.

Fair use: in keeping with the theme of "bandwagon" versus die-hard, we open with some of the late Sam Kinison's Vietnam rant from the movie Back to School.  "Say it!  Say it!"



Click here to download.

College Football Playoff: Tim was right.

The first ever attempt at a college football playoff has yielded the first ever college football championship final:

Oregon Ducks vs. Ohio State Buckeyes

During our discussion on the playoff, Tim got both teams correct.

Conversely, Mike got both teams wrong.

With six more bowl games, excluding the final:

Mike - 16 correct (0-6 in the big bowl games)
Tim - 17 correct (3-3)
Ryland - 12 correct (2-4, missed first six bowl games)

Tim is the current leader.

Episode 127 - 2014 NFL Review and Batsu Games

Mike (who's recovering from a very nasty cold) and Tim review the 2014 NFL regular season as well as their picks.

Two batsu games were issued, one under protest:

- First, Ryland (who picked San Francisco to win the Super Bowl in his original set) was issued his first batsu: the next time he appears on the podcast, he will have to wear Mike's St. Louis Rams #28 Marshall Faulk jersey.

- Second, Tim (who tied with Ryland for worst set of picks, but Ryland's adjustments cancelled out the original picks) was put on Four Words: Football, Sword, Puck, Outrageous.

Tim's punishment came under protest, as Ryland turned his picks in literally at the end of the regular season.  As a result, we have now instituted a new rule in regards to adjustments (no more than three weeks after the other guys have made their adjustments, and it must be made public either on this site and/or on the podcast).



Click here to download.